Testimony Death Of A Guatemalan Village By Victor Montejo

Imagine living in a country where you know you could die at any moment but don’t know how much longer till it happens. That was how much of the population of El Salvador used to feel when the government could not control the big coffee corporations. These out of control corporations, highly feared that the people would want to revolt against them so they hired murderers to kill innocent people to spread fear in the minds of the people of El Salvador. Fear, hate, and sorrow were the common feelings felt by the poor and innocent major population of El Salvador caused by the evil wrongdoings of the government during October 1979 – 16 January 1992. This is how the main character, Jose Luis, of the novel “Mother Tongue” by Demetria Martinez, felt before escaping his beautiful yet over constantly dangerous country, which depended on its cash crop, coffee beans to sell on a foreign market as the country’s main income. However, following the stock-market crash of 1929, a drop in coffee prices became apparent and affected everyone in El Salvador, but the poor especially. Making things worse, the glorious United States was funding the men whom were doing all the innocent killings with more weapons and money to increase their military power. So for Jose Luis the safe haven that he had escaped to was also blatantly funding the war that was killing so many innocent people he knew and had forced him to escape for his own safety. With nowhere else to go in order to find safety the United

The Guatemalan Revolution was on October 1944 and it forced the resignation of Jorge Ubico. He was the President of Guatemala in the previous thirteen years. Ubico's government was a fear period in the country and it was called the “peace on the cemeteries”

White farmers in the South and Midwest faced many problems after the Civil War, economically, politically, and socially. Many farmers had a system of cultivating unimproved land, and then selling it for a profit before moving farther West. However, after the Civil War, many states had no increase or barely an increase in land value. Thus, farmers using this process were no longer earning a profit. In other states, the land value did increase greatly. However, with the coming of income taxes and the raise in property taxes, these farmers still suffered. In addition, there was a lot of tension between railroad companies and farmers because railroad companies were overcharging farmers for the transportation of crops. However, because of a monopoly,

The Massacre at El Mozote as told by Mark Danner takes place El Salvador. El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. It shares borders with Guatemala and Honduras. El Salvador is divided into 14 departments and El Mozote is a village in one of the Departments called Morazan. According to the author, the Salvadoran Civil War 1979-1992 was a conflict waged by the Military led Government of El Salvador and coalition of left-leaning militias or guerillas called the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).The FMLN was supported by peasants and indigenous Indian people. The United States supported the El Salvador Military government.

The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are -- perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

Guatemala is a beautiful country that is known for its many Mayan cites, rich culture and its wide rainforest. The country has volcanos, delicious foods and a wonderful atmosphere that make for a rich tourist attraction. But the country has a history that isn’t as wonderful as I have made it sound. This country has endured a very tragic Civil War that started in 1960 and ended in 1996. This 36 year war was devastating to this country because of the many deaths that had happened and because of all of the tragic moments that happened within the span of the war. The Guatemalan Civil War was one of the many acts of genocide that have happened all around the world but even though there were many tragedies this country has developed past it and become the beautiful

In accordance with Jorge Juarez of UIGCS, the seminar's goal was to "make known to the public a version of the war's historical facts, without passions, without ideology, that presents the truth of the facts" (Britannica, p.2). In spite of all the studies that look at what happened in the civil war in El Salvador, they still have not discovered the underlying causes. This is especially tragic, as studies show almost 75,000 people died during those massacres. Countries throughout the world supported El Salvador during this long rough period of

Death squads and disappearances caused mental anguish to so many citizens of countries plagued with war all over Latin America, just like Lupe and her family. Gabriel Garcia Marquez poses the question, “why could social justice not be a goal for Latin America?” Countries in Latin America like Nicaragua, Guatemala, EL Salvador, Argentina, and Chile were striving for social justice. Some even had democratic elections and were on the right path but the fear of communism that plagued the United States since the beginning of the Cold War halted any of the progress Latin American countries could have even made. Any sort of progress, whether it was farmers and peasants like José forming unions and organizations fighting for human rights, or democratically elected presidents like Arbenz or Allende that fought for agrarian reform and nationalization of resources was completely shut down either directly or indirectly by the United States. Social justice was definitely a goal for Latin America. The region is not filled with savages that can’t grasp democracy; even Marquez “rejected the idea that ‘violence and pain’ was the natural condition of the region.” The United States halted and set aside any progress for social justice in Latin America because it feared losing its powerful influence in the

The Civil War was a big event that happened in history; it impacted many people's lives and affects how they see the world today. Today, people have privileges and freedom that they didn't have much of in history. One of the things we are spoiled of is food. Food was important, but they didn't have enough to feed each person. The Civil War is filled with history, different types of food, how it’s made, and the difference between the food they ate with Confederate and Union soldiers.

In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.

In the Civil War the North had many advantages over the South. The South was outnumbered, out supplied, and pushed into a corner using military tactics. Many things changed because of the Civil War. The military tactics used by the North changed how war was fought from then on. Many changes were made politically; some were only temporary, while others were permanent. After the war was over, the country was reunited and the image of the soul and duty of our country redefined.

The establishment for dark support in the Civil War started more than a hundred years before the episode of the war. blacks had been in servitude since early pilgrim times. In 1776, when Jefferson announced humanity 's unavoidable right to life, freedom, and the quest for joy, the organization of subjection had turned out to be immovably settled in America. blacks worked in the tobacco fields of Virginia, in the rice fields of South Carolina, and drudged in little ranches and shops in the North. Foner and Mahoney report in A House Divided, America in the Age of Lincoln that, "In 1776, slaves made forty percent out of the number of inhabitants in the provinces from Maryland south to Georgia, yet well beneath ten percent in the states toward the North."

The people had never been given this kind of freedom before so they were able to make a new Constitution and better their government. Guatemala took pride in their actions to recreate their culture and enhance their human- rights oriented government (State). Today,

The purpose of model villages created by Guatemalan president Rios Montt was to control and monitor the return of about 70 % of the 1.5 million individuals that were displaced due to a policy adopted by the government in an effort to limit support of guerrilla forces. They wanted to ensure that peasant populations could not give support to the guerrilla movement. The model villages were built near the ruined villages in order to limit any disruptive behavior. These villages were constructed with false promises of water electricity schools etc. but none of this ever happened. Additionally if men refused to participate civil defense patrols they would be labeled as subversive and targeted. The individuals that were part of the civil defense patrols

The author’s understanding of violence is extended beyond the text and into the political history of Latin America, full of neo-colonial repression, racial discrimination and struggles.